Saint Louis University School of Law Research: Scholarship Commons

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy 
Volume 12 
Issue 2 Would the ADA Pass Today?: Historical 
and Political Perspectives on the Americans 
with Disabilities Act 
Article 2 
2019 
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Available at: https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/jhlp/vol12/iss2/2 
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Volume 12 2018-2019 
 
 EDITORIAL BOARD 
 
Editor-in-Chief 
LAUREN E. PAIR 
 
 
Fall 
Managing Editor 
EMILEE M. BRAMSTEDT 
 
 
 
 
 
Spring 
Managing Editor 
COLLEEN A. KINSEY 
 
Technical  
Managing Editor 
AIDA HERENDA 
 
 
 
Notes and Comments 
Managing Editor 
STEPHEN M. SCANNELL 
 
 
 
MADHAV Y. BHATT 
JAMES G. CALLAHAN IV 
MIRANDA R. DELEON 
 
 
 
Lead Editors 
CHRISTIN E. DOYLE 
TARIQ MAHMOOD 
MICHELLE A. MELOCHE 
 
 
 
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MARQUEL R. STUEDEMANN 
NICOLE E. WEMHOFF 
 
 
 
 
NICHOLAS C. BORELLA 
ALLISON M. BOWEN 
SEAN P. CONNELLY 
VALERIE M. DE WANDEL 
 
 
Staff Editors 
ASHTON K. DIETRICH 
SAM R. FALCON 
NATHAN GARDNER 
J. WYATT KERNELL 
 
 
 
FABIAN G. LUCERO 
AMA E. MENDS 
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KYLIE A. THOMPSON 
 
 
Coordinator 
SUSIE LEE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Faculty Advisors 
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SIDNEY WATSON 
 


English

Masthead

Saint Louis University Law Journal 
Volume 63 
Number 4 Childress Lecture--Exploring 
#STL2039: Policies for a Better Future (Summer 
2019) 
Article 1 
2019 
Table of Contents 
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 Part of the Law Commons 
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Table of Contents, 63 St. Louis U. L.J. (2019). 
Available at: https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/lj/vol63/iss4/1 
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for inclusion in Saint Louis University Law Journal by an authorized editor of Scholarship Commons. For more 
information, please contact Susie Lee. 
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 
 
 
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY LAW JOURNAL 
 
Vol. 63, No. 4 SUMMER 2019 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
CHILDRESS LECTURE 
 
ESSAY 
 
SYNTHESIZING NARRATIVES OF  
POLICING AND MAKING  
A CASE FOR POLICING AS  
A PUBLIC GOOD............................................ Tracey L. Meares 553 
 
ARTICLES 
 
BEYOND INTEGRATION: FORWARD  
THROUGH FERGUSON/ 
BACKWARD THROUGH BROWN .......................... Anders Walker 565 
 
YOUTH AT THE CENTER: A TIMELINE  
APPROACH TO THE CHALLENGES  
FACING BLACK CHILDREN .............................. Ilana Friedman 583 
 
SHORT ESSAY 
 
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM IN MISSOURI ......................... Emily Stahly 607 
 
COMMENTS 
 
THE SHOW-ME STATE’S  
HIDDEN CRUELTY: HOW  
MISSOURI’S AG-GAG LAWS  
UNCONSTITUTIONALLY  
SILENCE ANIMAL-WELFARE  
WHISTLEBLOWERS ............................................ Maggie Strong 611 
 
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 
 
 
CAN ALL MURDERS BE  
“AGGRAVATED?” A LOOK  
AT AGGRAVATING FACTOR  
CAPITAL-ELIGIBILITY SCHEMES................................ Tyler Ash 641 


Coelho, Tony

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy 
Volume 12 
Issue 2 Would the ADA Pass Today?: Historical 
and Political Perspectives on the Americans 
with Disabilities Act 
Article 4 
2019 
Could We Pass the ADA Today? Disability Rights in an Age of 
Partisan Polarization 
Tony Coelho 
tony@onewhart.com 
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 Part of the Health Law and Policy Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Tony Coelho, Could We Pass the ADA Today? Disability Rights in an Age of Partisan Polarization, 12 St. 
Louis U. J. Health L. & Pol'y (2019). 
Available at: https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/jhlp/vol12/iss2/4 
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For more information, please contact Susie Lee. 
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 
 
265 
COULD WE PASS THE ADA TODAY? DISABILITY RIGHTS IN AN 
AGE OF PARTISAN POLARIZATION 
TONY COELHO* 
Thank you very much for the kind introduction. I would like to talk a little 
about why I’m such an advocate, why disability is my ministry, and why I devote 
so much time to it. The question before us today is would the Americans with 
Disabilities Act be adopted today? The answer is no. But I’ll get to that when I 
go onto some questions. 
When I was fifteen or sixteen years old, I had an automobile accident in a 
pickup truck. The accident was very serious, and I hit my head. I wasn’t too 
worried, except I totaled the pickup, and I was more concerned about what my 
dad would do to my other end. 
About a year later, I was in the barn milking cows, and all of a sudden, I 
woke up. I was in my bed in the house, and the doctor was sitting on me. I lived 
in a small California town, a little community of 2,000 people and that was the 
way they practiced medicine! I just had a seizure, and he was talking to my 
parents. They were discussing me and my prognosis, but I didn’t hear him say 
that I had epilepsy. I only learned later that he told my parents I had epilepsy. 
My parents, however, told me they didn’t know what I had. What is interesting 
is that you can see the impact that stigma has. Stigma is still a huge issue for the 
community today. My parents thought that if you had epilepsy, you were 
possessed by the devil. As strong Catholics that is what they were taught! Now, 
it is one thing when my Republican friends think I am possessed, but to have 
your parents feel you are possessed was pretty tough. But, making matters 
worse, they didn’t even tell me what they felt. 
I went to three different doctors, and each one told my parents about my 
epilepsy. Yet, my parents continued to keep it from me – stigma! After that they 
took me to witch doctors, and that was a very interesting experience. They take 
you into a darkened room with candles burning and pour oil on your forehead 
 
* The Honorable Tony Coelho is a retired U.S. Congressman from California, a former House of 
Representatives Majority Whip, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman, and 
the principal author of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Diagnosed with epilepsy when he was 
22 years old, Mr. Coelho has spent his entire adult life helping advance the lives of people with 
disabilities. Mr. Coelho founded The Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy and Innovation at 
his alma mater, Loyola Marymount University. Remarks from the 2018 AALS Disability Law 
Panel. 
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 
266 SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF HEALTH LAW & POLICY [Vol. 12:265 
and chest and say prayers in a language I couldn’t understand. After the third 
witch doctor I said I wouldn’t do it anymore – that started the deterioration of 
my relationship with my parents. 
I eventually decided I wanted to go away to college with the encouragement 
of my high school superintendent. I went from central California to Loyola Los 
Angeles. I loved the campus and I loved the Jesuits, however I kept having 
seizures. I thought it was just passing out. After it was over, I’d get up and go 
back to living my life. It didn’t trouble me, although it was an annoyance because 
it could happen at any time, apparently randomly. When I was a junior, John 
Kennedy was assassinated, and I decided that instead of being a trial lawyer I 
would devote my life to public service. If John Kennedy could do it with his life, 
I wanted to do the same. And the best way I saw to do this was to become a 
Catholic priest. 
My decision was a shock to my girlfriend of five years and to my fraternity 
brothers, but I knew what I wanted and began the process. I soon went for my 
physical and after examining me, the doctor asked if I had ever heard of the word 
‘epilepsy.’ I replied that I had not. He said, “Has anyone ever told you that you 
have epilepsy?,” and again I said, “No.” He said, “Well, you do. There is good 
news and bad news to having epilepsy. The good news (this was 1964 and in the 
midst of the Vietnam War) is you are 4F and can’t serve in the military. The bad 
news is that Cannon Law established in 400 A.D. stated that if you had epilepsy 
or possessed by the devil - you can’t be a priest.” So, I was denied entry to the 
priesthood. That didn’t bother me so much because after all these years I finally 
knew what my seizures were about. The doctor wrote me a prescription, which 
allowed me to reduce the number of seizures and the severity of them.  
I called my parents to give them the update from the doctor and they said, 
“No son of ours has epilepsy.” The stigma continued. Our relationship really 
began to deteriorate at that point. They insisted that I go back to my small town 
in central California because folks in Los Angeles were ignorant. 
When I started looking for a job, I had more than eighty offers, as I had been 
student body President and an outstanding senior classman. But as I filled out 
job applications and checked the box for having ‘epilepsy’, not only was I not 
getting a job, I didn’t even get interviews. At first it didn’t trouble me. Then I 
started to realize what was going on. I wouldn’t lie. But I started drinking and 
feeling sorry for myself. It seemed like everything I ever loved in my life—my 
God, my church, my parents—had turned against me. 
If you know Los Angeles, there is a park called Griffith Park. I was there 
every day, and by 2:00 pm every day I was drunk. I was on a hill top, and in 
those days as a result of my drinking, I thought it was a mountain. On the day, I 
was going to do the “dirty deed,” I saw a merry-go-round at the bottom of the 
hill. I had not seen it before. I heard the merry-go-round music, the laughter and 
the screams of the little kids riding the merry-go-around. Then, all of a sudden, 
I heard a voice that said to me, “You’re going to be just like those little kids. 
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 
2019] COULD WE PASS THE ADA TODAY? 267 
You are never going to let anything or anyone stop you from doing what you 
want to do.” And that’s it. I’ve not been depressed since. I drink, but I no longer 
get drunk. And I’ve never let anyone stop me from doing anything I want to do, 
particularly in regard to disabilities. 
I then went to work for a wonderful human being: Bob Hope. A lot of you 
are too young to know who he was but he was a famous comedian here in Los 
Angeles, and he mentored me for over a year. He said, “You have a ministry that 
you think can only be practiced in the church. A true ministry is practiced in 
sports, entertainment, business, government, and you belong in politics.” And 
that was how I got started. 
So, I wrote a letter to my congressman and got a job in his office. I got very 
involved in all kinds of different issues and eventually became his Chief of Staff. 
When he retired, I ran for his seat and easily won.1 During that campaign, my 
opponent said one day, “I don’t know if you know it or not but Tony is a very 
sick man. He has epilepsy and what would you think if he went to the White 
House to argue a critical issue for us such as water and had a seizure?” My 
response to reporters the next day was, “Well, in the fourteen years I’ve been in 
Washington, I’ve known a lot of people who have gone to the White House and 
had fits - but at least I have an excuse.” That ended that discussion of my epilepsy 
from that day forward. 
When I got elected as a representative, I decided that I wanted to become 
very involved with disabilities. I kept introducing amendments dealing with 
disability rights in housing, transportation and other areas. That’s when I 
realized that those of us with disabilities didn’t have our basic civil rights. We 
could be fired because of our disabilities. We could be denied entry into 
restaurants and movie theaters because of our disability, and it was legal, totally 
legal to do that.2 Then I started thinking about how to change it. The grassroots 
efforts all over the country were already working on legislation. It was a big 
grassroots movement that I didn’t know and then of course got introduced to it 
and ultimately introduced the ADA.3 The significant thing about introducing the 
bill was that when I sent out a Dear Colleague letter asking for co-sponsors, I 
had colleagues approach me on the House floor with personal stories. They 
would say that their aunt, uncle, mother, father, daughter or neighbor has a 
disability, and they didn’t like the way the person was treated and intended to 
support the bill. I got co-signors from all segments of each party. When I put it 
in, I insisted on the legislation being bicameral and bipartisan. 
 
 1. COELHO, Tony, HISTORY, ART, & ARCHIVES, HOUSE.GOV, https://history.house.gov/ 
People/Detail/11178 (last visited on Feb. 13, 2019). 
 2. FOREMAN ET AL., U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS, SHARING THE DREAM: IS THE 
ADA ACCOMMODATING ALL? (2000), https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/ada/ch2.htm. 
 3. COELHO, Tony, supra note 1. 
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 
268 SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF HEALTH LAW & POLICY [Vol. 12:265 
On the Senate side Senator Weicker from Connecticut, who has a son with 
Down Syndrome, became the Republican Senate author of the legislation.4 After 
he was defeated for re-election Senators Ted Kennedy, Bob Dole, Orrin Hatch, 
and Tom Harkin took over.5 It went through the Senate rather easily.6 In the 
House we had problems with stigma. The Speaker at the time felt that the public 
would revolt against a major bill like this. He felt we would have to come back 
and repeal it due to its unpopularity. I didn’t agree nor did I care, so I pushed it 
anyway. 
We had a tough time in committees. The Leadership assigned it to five 
different committees and several subcommittees.7 Motorbus owners worked 
hard against it. As a result, it was close in the Public Works Committee and 
succeeded by only one vote. This was all an effort to kill it, but we prevailed 
committee by committee.8 It was signed into law by President George H.W. 
Bush.9 
The Supreme Court then decided that I didn’t know what I was doing 
because if you didn’t have a physical disability, they ruled that you weren’t 
covered by the ADA.10 And so we then had to go back and amend the ADA to 
include all disabilities.11 One of my concerns about the disability community 
and movement is that we operate in silos. If you have a heart problem, if you 
have epilepsy, if you have Down Syndrome or whatever it is, you are focused 
on your particular concern. As such, we don’t get involved in the other 
disabilities. In the ADA, we had to knock down those silos. When we did the 
ADA Amendments Act, it was interesting that those groups covered by the ADA 
as per the Supreme Court decision,12 were not that helpful. 
 
 4. Donavan W. Frank & Lisa L. Beane, How the ADA was Passed, FED. LAW., June 2015, at 
62, 64. 
 5. Id. at 64–65. 
 6. Id. at 63, 65. 
 7. H.R.2273- Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, CONGRESS.GOV, https://www.con 
gress.gov/bill/101st-congress/house-bill/2273/committees (last visited Apr. 5, 2019); S.933 – 
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, CONGRESS.GOV, https://www.congress.gov/bill/101st-con 
gress/senate-bill/933/committees (last visited Apr. 5, 2019). 
 8. CONSORTIUM OF CITIZENS WITH DISABILITIES, BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION FOR 
AND SUMMARY OF ADA RESTORATION ACT 1 (2006). 
 9. Information and Technical Assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA, 
https://www.ada.gov/ada_intro.htm (last visited Apr. 5, 2019). 
 10. Toyota Motor Mfg., Ky., Inc. v. Williams, 534 U.S. 184, 194–96 (2002) (creating a high 
standard for the term “substantially limits”); see also Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc., 527 U.S. 
471, 482–83 (1999).  
 11. Emily A. Benfer, The ADA Amendments Act: An Overview of Recent Changes to the 
Americans with Disabilities Act, AM. CONST. SOC’Y FOR L. & POL’Y 5–6 (2009), https://www.hiv 
lawandpolicy.org/sites/default/files/Benfer-ADAAA-sept2009.pdf; 42 U.S.C. § 12102 (2012). 
 12. See Benfer, supra note 11, at 1–2. 
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 
2019] COULD WE PASS THE ADA TODAY? 269 
An interesting point about Obamacare was, when we had that fight, the 
whole community came together because Obamacare included one of the things 
that is most critical to our community: pre-existing conditions.13 So the 
community came together again, we fought hard and as you know, we 
prevailed.14 
When the Disability Treaty was introduced, we worked hard to try to get it 
passed. We made a huge effort, and we thought we could come within two votes 
of passing it.15 We had to have sixty-seven votes in the Senate. The reason it 
didn’t pass was Ted Cruz from Texas had just gotten elected in November.16 
After the election, during a lame duck session the treaty was being brought up. 
The day the treaty was to be brought up on the Senate floor, the Republicans 
were having their weekly luncheon. Cruz, as the elected Senator from Texas, not 
a member but elected, came to that meeting and spoke about the treaty. He said 
it was going to destroy people’s families with disabilities. The UN would be able 
to take the disabled children away from their families. These were outrageous 
statements, but it scared several members who had committed to be with us.17 
Bob Dole, as a former Senator and majority leader, was on the Senate floor. He 
had gotten most of the commitments. Those Republicans that he got 
commitments from, including the two from Kansas, voted against the treaty and 
so we lost it.18 
Now only two countries in the world have yet to sign the Disability Treaty 
and the United States is one of them.19 The whole movement, made up of the 
Tea Party continues to be opposed to the ADA.20 I’ve always said that the odds 
of getting the ADA passed again are rather remote. 
 
 13. See Georgina Peacock et al., Health Care for Americans with Disabilities — 25 Years After 
the ADA, 373 NEW ENG. J. MED. 892, 892–93 (2015). 
 14. See generally Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 42 U.S.C. § 18001 (2012) 
(prohibiting health insurance discrimination based on health status and preexisting conditions). 
 15. Roll Call Vote 112th Congress – 2nd Session, U.S. SENATE, https://www.senate.gov/legisla 
tive/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=2&vote=00219 (last 
visited Feb. 6, 2019). 
 16. Amber Phillips, Ted Cruz: Obstructor in Chief, WASH. POST (Jan. 16, 2016) 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/16/ted-cruz-obstructor-in-chief/?utm 
_term=.314399b0a5e0. 
 17. Id.; Hope Hodge, After Homeschoolers Lobby, UN Disabilities Treaty Fails, HUMAN 
EVENTS (Dec. 4, 2012), http://humanevents.com/2012/12/04/after-homeschoolers-lobby-un-dis 
abilities-treaty-fails/. 
 18. Jennifer Steinhauer, Dole Appears, but G.O.P. Rejects a Disabilities Treaty, N.Y. TIMES 
(Dec. 4, 2012), https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/05/us/despite-doles-wish-gop-rejects-disabili 
ties-treaty.html. 
 19. Brian Montopoli, U.N. Treaty on Disabilities Falls Short in Senate, CBS NEWS (Dec. 4, 
2012), https://www.cbsnews.com/news/un-treaty-on-disabilities-falls-short-in-senate/. 
 20. See, e.g., All Things Considered: Rand Paul Says He Has A Tea Party Mandate (NPR 
Newscast May 19, 2010); Robert Scheer, The Court Did What Helms Couldn’t: Trashed the ADA, 
NATION (Feb. 27, 2000), https://www.thenation.com/article/court-did-what-helms-couldnt-trash 
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 
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What is really important about any law, especially the ADA, is enforcement. 
Under Attorney General Sessions it is not going to be enforced, and we are 
already starting to see that happen.21 He is withdrawing a lot of the executive 
orders,22 and that is going to be our biggest problem. So, as we go forward in 
these three years, we can hold back some of the negative efforts, but we really 
won’t be able to do much. The judicial appointments and the executive orders 
that are being repealed are setting us back. I’d be happy to answer some 
questions. Thank you very much. 
 
ed-ada/; Jake Flanagin, Republicans Think Disabled Americans Are Gaming the System, So They 
Want to Make the ADA Harder to Enforce, QUARTZ (June 6, 2017), https://qz.com/994853/republi 
cans-in-congress-think-the-americans-with-disabilities-act-is-too-easy-to-game-so-they-want-to-
make-it-harder-to-enforce/. 
 21. Press Release, Attorney General Jeff Sessions Rescinds 25 Guidance Documents, Dep’t 
of Justice, Office of Pub. Affairs (Dec. 21, 2017) (on file with Dep’t of Justice); Flanagin, supra 
note 20. 
 22. Press Release, supra note 21. 


Could We Pass the ADA Today? Disability Rights in an Age of Partisan Polarization

Waterstone, Michael

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy 
Volume 12 
Issue 2 Would the ADA Pass Today?: Historical 
and Political Perspectives on the Americans 
with Disabilities Act 
Article 3 
2019 
Could We Pass the ADA Today?: Disability Rights in an Age of 
Partisan Polarization 
Michael Waterstone 
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, michael.waterstone@lls.edu 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/jhlp 
 Part of the Health Law and Policy Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Michael Waterstone, Could We Pass the ADA Today?: Disability Rights in an Age of Partisan Polarization, 
12 St. Louis U. J. Health L. & Pol'y (2019). 
Available at: https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/jhlp/vol12/iss2/3 
This Remarks is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship Commons. It has been accepted for 
inclusion in Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy by an authorized editor of Scholarship Commons. 
For more information, please contact Susie Lee. 
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 
 
261 
COULD WE PASS THE ADA TODAY?: DISABILITY RIGHTS IN AN 
AGE OF PARTISAN POLARIZATION 
MICHAEL WATERSTONE* 
Hi friends. So I clearly drew the short straw amongst my panelists for having 
to go after Tony Coelho. Let me say it’s an honor to share the podium with all 
the panelists whose work I’ve gotten to know and learn so much from over the 
years. I do want to say what an honor it is share the stage with Tony Coelho, 
who has always been a hero but of late has become a friend. One thing you will 
hopefully be hearing a lot more from us about is that we are incredibly pleased 
that at Loyola Marymount University, we are in the process of creating the 
Coelho Center for Disability Law, Technology and Innovation.1 It will be a 
university-wide center, bringing together all the different schools and colleges. 
It will be housed at Loyola Law School. We really think we will be able to do 
some really exciting things. We have an ambitious agenda to bring different 
stakeholders to the table. We seek to convene on issues of employment, on issues 
of technology, and something that is of utmost importance to this group: 
increasing the pipeline of lawyers with disabilities. We really believe that we 
can be a center for important conversations and help make a difference. So stay 
tuned—you will be learning more about that in the weeks and months to come. 
So in coming back to the topic, these days, to be honest, I spend most of my 
time being ‘Dean.’ But what I looked at most recently in disability rights is the 
Disability Rights Movement as a social movement and comparing and 
contrasting that with other social movements. And I’ve argued that the Disability 
Rights Movement’s signature feature as a social movement is the ability to 
transcend typical partisan lines and get federal legislation passed.2 So we know 
 
* Michael Waterstone is the Dean of Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, and Senior Vice President 
of Loyola Marymount University. He has also taught at the University of Mississippi School of 
Law and Northwestern University Law School. He wishes to thank Tony Coelho for his vision and 
passion in founding the Coelho Center, his colleagues at Loyola Marymount University, and 
Katherine Perez, the inaugural Director of the Center, for her tireless efforts. Remarks from 2018 
AALS Disability Law Panel. 
 1. Loyola Partners with Distinguished Congressman to Launch the Coelho Center for 
Disability Law, Policy, & Innovation, LOYOLA L. SCH., https://www.lls.edu/loyola-partners-with-
distinguished-congressman-to-launch-the-coelho-center-for-disability-law-policy-innovation/ (last 
visited Feb. 13, 2019). 
 2. Michael Waterstone, Backlash, Courts, and Disability Rights, 95 B. U. L. REV. 833, 841–
42 (2015). 
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 
262 SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF HEALTH LAW & POLICY [Vol. 12:261 
that both the [Americans with Disabilities Act] and the [ADA Amendments Act] 
passed through Congress with wide margins, and they were signed into law by 
Republican presidents in an era when it was hard to get postage stamp 
resolutions enacted into law.3 Now we say that casually, but clearly that was the 
result of hard political work done by Representative Coelho and others. When 
you take a step back, the Disability Rights Movement was uniquely successful 
in getting federal legislation passed. 
Previously contrasting the Disability Rights Movement and other social 
movements, I’ve suggested that the Disability Rights Movement has something 
I’ve termed “low political salience,” meaning that it has not entered the culture 
wars or provoked the same level of intense political and social opposition as 
some other social movements.4 There’s really not a comparable level of 
organized opposition as in other areas. Now this is a mixed bag; it’s part of the 
reason that legislation can get passed. It’s created opportunities for federal 
legislation beyond legislation that was enjoyed by other groups. But I’ve also 
suggested that it placed limits on how much transformative change the 
movement has been able to accomplish.5 
It’s hard to create a revolution if people aren’t paying attention and may not 
care. And one way I talk about this, if we were to walk outside right now and go 
across the street to Starbucks (because you can always go across the street and 
find a Starbucks), and if we were either to talk to the barista or the people inside 
Starbucks, everyone would have views on gay rights. Everyone would have 
views on religion. Everyone would have views on guns and the Second 
Amendment. But most people would probably not have strong views on 
disabilities. Maybe there would be some benevolence or some 
misunderstanding, some stigma, some cost concerns, but not the same intensity 
of belief that we would see in other areas. 
So I believe, returning to the question today, the current environment raises 
two questions: has this changed and if so, what does it mean for the Disability 
Rights Movement? When I say Disability Rights Movement, I want to follow up 
on what Representative Coelho said: we tend to use that term, perhaps over use 
it. The Disability Rights Movement is actually a collection of individual groups 
made up of communities with shared life experiences that come together at 
political moments in time to get legislation passed.6 But what, if anything, has 
changed? Well, if you look back at the presidential campaign, we did see 
disability enter the campaign. Trump made fun of a reporter, and that was in the 
 
 3. Id.; The Americans with Disabilities Act, HISTORY, ART, & ARCHIVES, HOUSE.GOV (July 
26, 1990), https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1951-2000/The-Americans-with-Disabil 
ities-Act/. 
 4. Waterstone, supra note 2, at 844. 
 5. See id. at 846. 
 6. Richard K. Scotch, Politics and Policy in the History of the Disability Rights Movement, 
67 MILBANK Q. 380, 380 (Supp. II, Part II 1989). 
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 
2019] COULD WE PASS THE ADA TODAY? 263 
news.7 We see of late the Department of Justice rescinding guidelines around 
disability and Olmstead8 and other areas and [other panelists] will be talking 
about that. And we saw disability at the center of the health care debate in efforts 
to repeal Obamacare.9 So what does this mean? Well, I don’t believe that it 
means that disability is about to enter the culture wars or that disability is 
something that more people are necessarily going to start paying attention to or 
caring about. Certainly in the current political environment, we have seen what 
unleashed more visible and vitriolic opposition to civil rights generally, 
including hate groups. 
Disability is not exempt in that conversation, but I don’t think it is front and 
center. The disability guidances that have been rolled back signal that the era in 
which disability has almost a unique and special ability within the federal 
government to get things done in a partisan environment is changing. I think 
that’s real and I think we need to pay attention to that, and we can’t take for 
granted that what has happened in the past will always be in the future. I think 
health care, what’s going on around disability and health care, is potentially the 
most important, and I’m glad my panelists know more about that than I do. But 
health care is a key and crucial national conversation, and disability is closer to 
the center of that than I ever recall in a very visible way. 
When friends, not connected to the Disability Rights Movement, are calling 
me and saying, “Hey Carrie Ann Lucas, she was just on TV. I see she’s just got 
arrested in Colorado for protesting some of the Medicare changes, do you know 
her?”10 That says to me, “Oh wow, people are paying attention in a way that 
they have not before.” 
One thing we know from other social movements is that opposition creates 
increased attention, which can be used as leverage to win hearts and minds. And 
it’s important to win the hearts and minds of people outside the core group, 
including people aligned with other civil rights groups. So I think part of the 
strategy of the Disability Rights Movement moving forward needs to be a focus 
on claims that create residents outside of the core group. And I suggested some 
of what those may be. I do think in an era where there is a rollback of federal 
 
 7. Liz Spayd, Not ‘She Said, He Said.’ Mockery, Plain and Simple, N.Y. TIMES (Jan. 10, 
2017), https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/10/public-editor/trump-streep-golden-globes.html. 
 8. Attorney General Jeff Sessions Rescinds 25 Guidance Documents, U.S. DEP’T JUST. (Dec. 
21, 2017), https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-rescinds-25-guidance-
documents; Statement of DOJ Withdrawal of Disabilities Guidance, ACLU (Dec. 22, 2017), 
https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-statement-doj-withdrawal-disabilities-guidance. 
 9. Harold Pollack, Health-Care Reform’s Disability Blind Spot, CENTURY FOUND. (Jan. 9, 
2018), https://tcf.org/content/report/health-care-reforms-disability-blind-spot/?agreed=1. 
 10. Jaclyn Allen, Disability Advocates Arrested by Denver Police During Sit-In at Cory 
Gardner’s Office, DENV. CHANNEL (June 29, 2017), https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/ 
front-range/denver/disability-advocates-removed-by-denver-police-from-cory-gardens-office-. 
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 
264 SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF HEALTH LAW & POLICY [Vol. 12:261 
protections,11 where it was suggested we cannot have confidence in the 
Department of Justice to make the gains that they did in recent years on issues 
like Olmstead and others,12 we as a community of academics need to talk about 
and also support our friends who move to litigate under state constitutions to 
create a new body of jurisprudence. 
There are many state constitutions with protections on disabilities that go 
above and beyond the federal constitution.13 I think we need to focus on areas 
like family law where the right to keep families together is something that has 
residence outside the disability community. But there are also terrible things 
happening to parents with disabilities, and this is something we can shine a 
flashlight on to create residents outside the core community. 
So I’m going to sit down there because I want to allow time for reflection 
and conversation. I do want to say that I know we are moving to a Q & A. I’m 
going to pose a question that I hope we can get to, and this question is actually 
specifically for Tony [Coelho]. As scholars we always want our scholarship to 
be useful to policymakers. I think one of the questions I would have for you 
when we get there is what type of scholarship can we be doing, how can what 
we do become useful to the people who do what you do? I think that’s vital and 
most important to most of us about all these issues. Thank you for being here, 
and I look forward to the conversation and discussion. 
 
 
 11. See David M. Perry, Companies that Exploit Disabled People Have a Friend in Jeff 
Sessions, PAC. STANDARD (Jan. 3, 2018), https://psmag.com/economics/jeff-sessions-roll-back-dis 
ability-rights; see ACLU, THE DEPARTMENT OF INJUSTICE UNDER JEFF SESSIONS 9 (2019), 
https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/aclu_report_-_department_of_injustice_ 
under_jeff_sessions_1.pdf; Statement of DOJ Withdrawal of Disabilities Guidance, supra note 8. 
 12. ACLU, supra note 11, at 9. 
 13. Michael Waterstone, Disability Constitutional Law, AM. CONST. SOC’Y (July 29, 2015), 
https://www.acslaw.org/?post_type=acsblog&p=11020. 


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This article updates the author’s earlier work on the search for gender equity among women faculty in the university setting in the United States. The author reflects on the fact that some of the literature in this area does not sufficiently address the challenges facing women of color. She seeks to fill the gap in her own research by referencing best practices discussed in three recent books on the professional lives of university faculty who are women of color. She argues that future work on best practices for achieving gender equity must address issues of intersectionality of race, gender, and class in order to develop effective tools for change in the university setting. This article was prepared for the 2019 Norman Shachoy Symposium at Villanova Law School, which focused on “Gender Equity in Law Schools”

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Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy 
Volume 13 
Issue 1 The Struggle for the Soul of Medicaid Article 1 
12-6-2019 
Table of Contents 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/jhlp 
 Part of the Health Law and Policy Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Table of Contents, 13 St. Louis U. J. Health L. & Pol'y (2019). 
Available at: https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/jhlp/vol13/iss1/1 
This Prefatory Matter is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship Commons. It has been accepted 
for inclusion in Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy by an authorized editor of Scholarship 
Commons. For more information, please contact Susie Lee. 
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Vol. 13, Issue 1  2019 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 
THE STRUGGLE FOR THE SOUL OF MEDICAID 
 
FOREWORD ................................................................ Sidney D. Watson 1 
 
 
SYMPOSIUM ARTICLES 
 
A PROGRAM FOR ALL SEASONS ................................. Sara Rosenbaum 5 
 
MEDICAID’S ROLE FOR SENIORS AND 
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: CURRENT  
STATE TRENDS ...................................................... MaryBeth Musumeci 17 
 
JUSTICE AND THE STRUGGLE FOR THE  
SOUL OF MEDICAID .......................................... Dayna Bowen Matthew 29 
 
THE ADMINISTRATION’S MEDICAID  
WAIVERS: EXPLODING IN THE GUISE  
OF EXPERIMENTING ........................................................... Jane Perkins 53 
 
ARTICLE 
 
SOCIAL WORK AS AN IMPORTANT  
COLLABORATOR IN TRANSDISCIPLINARY  
PUBLIC HEALTH LAW: WHY DOES IT  
MATTER AND WHERE DOES IT FIT?........... Heather A. Walter-McCabe 77 
 
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW 
 
STUDENT NOTE 
 
HYPOTHESIZING A SMALL OPIOID  
MDL SETTLEMENT: AN ARGUMENT  
FOR LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH ACTION  
AND LESSONS FROM BIG TOBACCO ......................... Ashton K. Dietrich 89 
 
 
STUDENT COMMENT 
 
PAINFULLY PRESCRIBED:  
COULD TAKING OPIOIDS AS  
LEGAL TREATMENT RESULT  
IN DISCRIMINATION UNCOVERED  
BY THE ADA? ..................................................... Rachael Elyse Palmer 123 
 
 
  


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